A 225-square-mile (583-square-kilometer) blaze that has grown into the third-largest in Arizona's history covered a mountain vacation town in a smoky fog on Sunday, as wind blew smoke from the burning pine forest into the nearby states of New Mexico and Colorado.
A 1928 Oldsmobile sedan sits in a flatbed trailer while Allan Johnso
Crews have not contained the fire near the New Mexico-Arizona state line, which has forced residents to evacuate from several mountain towns.
In the tourist town of Greer, which has fewer than 200 year-round residents, many voluntarily left on Saturday. Those who remained, mostly business owners, dealt with haze heavily tinged with smoke on Sunday, including the owner of the historic Molly Butler Lodge who was getting ready to leave.
Allan Johnson spent the morning getting antiques, including an 1886 table brought by covered wagon from Utah and a 1928 Oldsmobile the lodge uses for weddings, out of the fire's path. He said he was not taking reservations but was keeping open the restaurant, mainly as a meeting place.
Greer is within miles of the fire, which officials expect will grow given a windy forecast and expected dry lightning Sunday and Monday. If the blaze comes within two miles (three kilometres) of a containment line nearby, the town will be evacuated.
"We're all waiting for the word," Johnson said. "It could be 24 hours, could be eight hours. It might not happen at all – that's what we're all rooting and praying for."
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